Nissan 370Z Forum - Tinted lights, help??

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Tinted lights, help??

I have been browsing and I know there are quite a few threads on this already, But i took my MB to a shop to get the tint done and the owner at the shop told me he would not be able to tint the headlights or taillights?

He told me that due to the shape of the lights the tint would just bubble/peel off. Does this sound legit to anyone or does it sound like he may have just not been up for the challenge? I was under the impression that the Blue Bat overlays were more or less just pre cut tint?

Either way, ive not got a whole lot to do today and was thinking about picking up a roll of tint (stuff is dirt cheap anyway) and giving it a shot.

Thoughts??
Ideas??
Suggestions?
Tips??
Never done any tinting before

Thanks alot guys

I wouldn't suggest tint, as it has been known to cause small stress fractures in the light housing.

I would suggest opening up the light and painting it, however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheshirecat (Post 1781674)

I wouldn't suggest tint, as it has been known to cause small stress fractures in the light housing.

I would suggest opening up the light and painting it, however.

Interesting, never heard of that before. Stress fractures caused by tint, that is. How about using the spray on tint and a whole lot of masking on the car? I would imagine spray tint would polish out in case of minor overspray either way?

I bought the rear tail light Blue Bat stuff and had a few issues. First, you're right, it's just pre-cut tint, Oracal (SP?) exactly, forget the color number) same as you can get anywhere. What you are getting special from Blue Bat is that it's computer cut to shape.

I had my nephew apply mine. He has worked at sign shops for years and does full auto wraps all the time. He also installed my clear bra for me. But he had problems with this, and I didn't like it anyway. He was able to do the 3rd brake light, but for the tail lights he had 2 issues. First, the material I got from Blue Bat was old and dried out (brittle). Not saying all Blue Bat's stuff is like this, just in my case it was. It basically wouldn't stretch or give at all, and ended up tearing. Second, with precut stuff you have to be pretty exact on where you lay it down on these difficult lights. They have some really crazy little curves etc, and the precut shape actually makes it harder to apply than bulk material. My nephew spent a long time trying to get this precut stuff to fit right, and then it tore anyway. So now that we knew it was just plain old stock Oracal material, he bought some bulk and the next weekend had it on in about 20 minutes.

BUT, on the tail lights it just wasn't dark enough for me; still too red. It's okay on the 3rd brake because of the small size, the hazy color red plastic, and the location under the wing. But I didn't like the tail lights at all. So I had him remove the Oracal and I went to my local body shop. Had them paint the tail lights and the fog light (which I made a 4th brake light), which turned out MUCH better looking than the Oracal. $175 well spent and I know it will hold up.

So, just my opinion of course, because I like how mine looks, but I would go to Blue Bat for the 3rd brake, and do the tails with paint.

As for the head lights, I would love to get mine painted black on the INSIDE, but time and budget doesn't fit right now. Also removing the bumper doesn't thrill me, and I'm worried about paint peal off the chrome and leaks causing fogging inside. I would not tint the clear of the lights, because it seriously does diminish visibility at night. Did it on my old truck and it sucked.

Hope this helps. Here's some pics of my rear end.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLSpeed (Post 1781725)

Tail lights come out pretty easy. There are several threads here how to do it. Headlights are harder, you have to remove the entire front bumper. Although if you know what your are doing that shouldn't be too bad either.

I had gotten my tail lights tinted and they did bubble. Had them fixed and they bubbled again. Then got a refund and had them painted at a body shop for the same price and they came out looking 100x better.

Check out the first page of my build thread for more pics of the difference. http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...dezmobile.html

http://www.the370z.com/members/b1ade...ure29150-a.jpg

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0015.jpg

Spray tint them with nite-shades and clear coat.

Just in case, Blue Bat material is Oracal 8300 073 Dark Grey

ORACAL USA : Products : ORACAL* 8300* Transparent Cal

Thanks a lot guys! I think I may try using window tint for the 3rd brake and for light, and then night shade the heads and tails. My thinking is I can give it a shot and see how it looks and, if needed, get a shop to paint them after if they don't turn out as well as I would like?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLSpeed (Post 1781725)

I'd suggest the spray over the film. Here's a google search on the issue.

stress cracks

I've been using 8300 series for 12 years now with good success :). Granted, the tails on the 370 are a bit tricky to work with, patience obviously required! My installers have installed many of these with success :). You'll need to apply the right amount of heat to make the vinyl soft and pliable around the curved sections. But yes, dont use window tint!

B@t